i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drugs which are intended to prevent and remedy diseases attendant on hyperglycemia after each meal, for example, diabetes, prediabetes, obesity, hyperlipemia, arteriosclerosis, etc., and wholesome foods.
ii) Description of the Background Art
.alpha.-Glucosidases represented by sucrase and maltase are enzymes which bear a leading role in hydrolysis of carbohydrates in the intestine, and exert a vital influence on carbohydrate absorption. Therefore, sucrase inhibitors and maltase inhibitors are useful as preparations for depressing the rise in blood sugar after each meal (U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,950, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 156945/1989).
However, most of the conventionally-known sucrase inhibitors and maltase inhibitors were secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms and were not contained in foods generally ingested by human beings. Accordingly, these substances are foreign matters to the living body, and have hence been left a fear as to the safety in the case where they are taken up from the digestive tract into the blood and reach the systemic organs. In principal organs such as the liver, heart or skeletal muscle, in which the hydrolytic metabolism of carbohydrates actively takes place, in particular, a fear has been emphatically pointed out for long-term safety.
Accordingly, there has been a demand for development of an .alpha.-glucosidase inhibitor which is a substance contained in foods generally ingested, and is highly safe for the living body in that it is hard to be taken up from the digestive tract, is discharged quickly if taken up, and is hence not retained in the human body.